Judge Orders Documents Unsealed in Trump University Lawsuit

WASHINGTON — A judge, called a “hater” by Donald J. Trump for his handling of a lawsuit related to the businessman’s Trump University real estate school, has ordered documents related to the case to be unsealed.

Mr. Trump is fighting a lawsuit that accuses his school venture of misleading thousands of people who paid up to $35,000 for seminars to learn about Mr. Trump’s real estate investment strategies.

In an order signed on Friday, Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel of United States District Court said that related materials, including Trump University procedures on dealing with students and the news media, should be unsealed.

He noted that the material had already been published by Politico and that a magistrate judge described them previously as “routine” and “commonplace.”

At a rally on Friday in San Diego, Mr. Trump criticized Judge Curiel.

“I have a judge who is a hater of Donald Trump,” Mr. Trump said.

“We’re in front of a very hostile judge. The judge was appointed by Barack Obama,” Trump said, adding that he believed Judge Curiel was Mexican.

Judge Curiel is an American who was born in East Chicago, Ind.

Legal scholars said that Mr. Trump could face consequences for his criticisms.

“Mr. Trump’s conduct could be subject to sanction for indirect criminal contempt of court,” said Charles G. Geyh, a legal ethics expert at Indiana University’s Maurer School of Law.

“He has impugned the honesty of the judge in a pending case,” Mr. Geyh said, “and has done so in the context of a political rally that seems calculated to intimidate by inciting anger among his supporters.”

Arthur D. Hellman, an expert on federal courts and judicial ethics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, said the judge was in a difficult position.

“He can’t respond directly,” Mr. Hellman said. “He’s not supposed to talk out of court about proceedings before him. Judges have gotten into trouble defending themselves from attacks.”

Mr. Trump has drawn criticism for his comments about immigrants from Mexico, some of whom he has said were criminals and rapists. He has proposed building a wall along the United States border with Mexico to prevent illegal immigration, and requiring Mexico to pay for it.